A week into the project, I’m happy to report back that thus far, things are not as terrible as I expected them to be! Little victories. I’m sure I’ll be aching to get this time back come Monday when I ramp it up for my hotter sauce.
The sauce: Sgt. Pepper’s El Chipotle Hot Sauce in Roasted Tomatillo. The chili in this sauce is chipotle peppers, both used whole and in adobo sauce (2,500-5,000 Scoville Heat Units).
Why I like it: It actually tastes good to me! While it still burns, there is a distinctly smoky flavor coming from the roasted tomatillos, and a really good acidity from lime juice – chili & lime is a flavor match made in heaven for me.
How I feel: The pain from this sauce stays exclusively in the mouth for me. While it does feel quite hot, I’m having very little of the commonly associated physical symptoms of eating spicy foods (sweating) at this level. As I move up in heat, I’m expecting to get real sweaty, but am enjoying this experience for now. I’m finding myself looking forward to eating the sauce every day, it’s becoming more of an opportunity than a potential for terror.
Ideal use: this would be drop dead delicious on eggs with cheese – hello breakfast tacos?
Best food I’ve eaten it on: potato and leek soup from Log Lunch – took an otherwise earthy and creamy soup and kicked it up a notch
Least favorite food I’ve eaten it on: a banana (happening live while I write this) – most things outside of the realm of peanut butter and Nutella really go with bananas in my book, but I’m doing it for the science. I got myself into this mess.
Starting Monday, I’ll be moving up to Duck Butter Pepper Sauce (wow, this website plays music), a cayenne based, Louisiana-styled sauce coming in at about 30,000-50,000 SHU (note the tenfold increase in SHU, friends) . According to their website, Duck Butter Pepper Sauce is supposedly “made to eat, not burn” – we’ll see about that.
Experiencing Spice 